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POLLED OUT OF COMMITTEE
MAJORITY FAVORABLE
February 15, 2012
S. 1191
S. Printed 2/15/12--S.
Read the first time February 8, 2012.
To whom was referred a Concurrent Resolution (S. 1191) to declare February 17, 2012, as an Annual Day of Commemoration in the State of South Carolina to remember the burning of Columbia by Union General, etc., respectfully
Has polled the Concurrent Resolution out majority favorable.
TO DECLARE FEBRUARY 17, 2012, AS AN ANNUAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO REMEMBER THE BURNING OF COLUMBIA BY UNION GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.
Whereas, on his march through the Carolinas, General William Tecumseh Sherman destroyed everything of military value along the way; and
Whereas, he was particularly interested in targeting South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union; and
Whereas, on February 17, 1865, General Sherman's Union troops completed the long march from Savannah and reached Columbia; and
Whereas, T.J Goodwyn, Columbia's Mayor, surrendered the city to General Sherman. Fires began that night and by next morning most of the central city was destroyed; and
Whereas, almost 500 buildings and their contents had been destroyed including warehouses, factories, offices, hotels, schools, libraries, private residences, churches, and a Catholic convent; and
Whereas, the burning of Columbia has engendered controversy ever since, with some claiming the fires were accidental, others a deliberate act of vengeance, and still others that the retreating Confederates burned bales of cotton on their way out of town; and
Whereas, among the buildings burned were the old South Carolina State House and the interior of the incomplete new State House; and
Whereas, today we remember General Sherman's march through Columbia by the State House Monument, erected on the State House grounds in 1938, that marks the location of the original State House in Columbia burned by Sherman's troops, and by six bronze stars on our current State House that mark where the building was hit by artillery fire; and
Whereas, it is fitting and proper for the members of the General Assembly to pause in their deliberations to remember the rich heritage of our great State. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly, by this resolution, declare February 17, 2012, as an Annual Day of Commemoration in South Carolina to remember the burning of Columbia by Union General William T. Sherman.
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